[Moody's: Bank of Japan expected to remain on hold this week] Moody's Analytics said in a report that it expects the Bank of Japan to remain on hold at its monetary policy meetings on September 19 and 20. Although the Bank of Japan tightened policy faster than expected and hinted at further rate hikes, Moody's expects the next rate hike to come in October. The report said it was difficult for the Japanese economy to escape the gloom due to sluggish consumer spending and exports. "Inflation will rise sharply in the short term as the government reduces assistance for household energy bills before introducing new support measures," Moody's said, predicting that core inflation will accelerate from 2.7% in July to 2.9% in August.